Microsoft have decided to play by the same set of rules that Google have been following for the last few years, namely stepping all over the competition's toes.
As part of the technical preview for Office 2010, Microsoft have announced their intention to make their market leading suite of Office tools available online. This comes just a few days after Google announced that it was to begin work on a new stripped down operating system to initially power netbooks, clearly firing a broadside salvo across the bows of Microsoft's operating system dominance.
Google initially started encroaching into Microsoft's software arena with the introduction of
Google Docs, a range of online tools for spreadsheet editing, wordprocessing, and even presentation creation. These free tools export into Microsofts .doc, .xls and .ppt formats, meaning that small businesses could use these tools and still send out standard format documents.
The online suite of Microsoft Office tools will be ad-supported and will enable simultaneous document updates, access to documents from any web connection and the ability to view files without degradation across multiple internet access interfaces such as PCs and mobile phones. The move is very muchy geared to fit in with the growing need to work on the move. "By offering more ways to access files from almost anywhere, Office Web Applications enable you to get things done according to your schedule," says Microsoft.
The application will be free to any Windows Live user, and although the features will be stripped down, allowing users to "Create new documents and do basic editing using the familiar Office interface", the announcement will be welcome to the many professionals who currently need to work and travel at the same time.
